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Republic of Iceland
The Republic of Iceland is one of two European countries, along with Switzerland, to survive the Great War with it's pre-war government intact. Unlike Switzerland, which survived thanks to their extensive network of bunkers, Iceland achieved this thanks to it's isolation from the rest of Europe and its small population, only about 340,000 as of 2077, which meant that no country bothered to deploy nuclear weapons against it. The government was able to retain control of the island and manage any post-war civil unrest thanks to a combination of its small population, lack of direct impacts from the war, and the fact that two thirds of the population was concentrated in the capital city of Reykjavik. History Iceland has been inhabited since the at least 874 AD when it was colonized by Norse settlers, and was effectively independant, ruled by an assembly or Althing or legislative assembly until it came under the rule of the Norwegians in the 13th century. The movement for independence began in the 18th century, though independence was not declared until 1918. During World War II, the British occupied the island to prevent it falling into the hands of Nazi Germany, but regained independence as a republic in 1944, and the last Allied troops left in 1946. After the war, the Icelandic fisheries were industrialized, leading to rapid economic growth, leading to diversification into manufacturing, biotechnology, geothermal power, and offshore oil exploration, gaining one of the highest per-capita GDPs in Europe by the end of the 20th century. It was during this period that most of the nation's power grid was converted to geothermal energy, which allowed their power grid to continue running after the Great War with no difficulties. While Iceland joined NATO in 1949, the country has no standing army, only a Coast Guard, and thus remained neutral in the European Wars and Great War, sparing it from the destruction that ravaged much of Europe and the developed world. Post-War After the nuclear exchange between the US and China on October 23rd, 2077, Iceland was largely unaffected, being far from the nuclear detonations in Europe, while there was some civil unrest, the Icelandic National Police, assisted by US and NATO troops stationed at Keflavik Naval Air Station (many of which later joined the Icelandic Coast Guard or National Police), managed to maintain order thanks the small population concentrated in Reykjavik and minimal direct effects of the war- while there were severe shortages of many manufactured goods, the geothermal power grid was effectively self-sufficient, and food was readily available from the fisheries. While there were some concerns with nuclear fallout from the war, Iceland is still far less irradiated than anywhere else in Europe or much of the former US or China, and has a much higher standard of living than most of the postwar world, with electricity, indoor plumbing, and basic sanitation rarely found in much of the American and European wastelands being commonplace, and pre-war medical and technological knowledge being preserved. In December 2077, a Royal Navy nuclear submarine, the HMS Valiant, docked in Reykjavik after finding communications with Britain and all other Allied countries unresponsive. The submarine, along with a number of F-80 fighters at Keflavik would later be co-opted into the Icelandic Coast Guard, and used for patrolling the waters around the island. In 2082, The Icelandic Coast Guard sent one of the F-80 fighters that had fallen into their hands, equipped with aerial cameras to determine the status of the Svalbard Seed Bank, a facility constructed on the islands of Svalbard in Norwegian territory set up on 2048 to preserve agricultural and medicinal plant seeds in case of nuclear war. The photo reconnaissance mission showed that the bunker containing the seed bank was intact and, in later that year, the Icelandic Coast Guard ship Odin, along with two civilian transport ships and two smaller escorting Coast Guard vessels sailed to Svalbard with a contingent of armed National Police and ex-NATO soldiers. The seed bank, was secured without incident, and examples of several important medicinal and crop species were withdrawn and transported back to a university facility in Reykjavik. By the 2090s, some Icelandic fishermen and other seafarers took up trading fish, manufactured goods, and other items with some of the more stable city-states in Britain, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and even Newfoundland and Labrador. Because of these trading vessels traveled beyond the waters patrolled by the Coast Guard were more vulnerable to pirate attacks, Icelandic trade ships often had considerable armories on board. The government at least de-facto tolerated these so long as these arms were not removed from the ship while in port. Thanks to this, diplomatic relations were quickly established with the New Republic of Ireland in 2135. Iceland would later establish diplomatic relations with friendly post-war successor states in Britain, including the Republic of Wales and Scottish Republic, and other European states, as well as New Canada through trade with Newfoundland. Geography and Territory The Republic of Iceland is one of the few pre-war states to both survive the Great War and control all of its pre-war territory, consisting of the island of Iceland and a few small islands off the coast. The island itself was minimally impacted by fallout due to the distance from the war, and thus the landscape is similar to how it looked pre-war, consisting mostly of grass-covered tundra or bare rock, with very few trees. Most of the few small forests that do exist were artificially planted. Most of the population clustered in a few cities and towns along the coast, the largest being the capital of Reykjavik. Government Iceland can be described as one of the oldest (albeit non-continuous) representative democracies in the world, with the modern Icelandic Althing or legislative assembly being seen as a continuation of the Norse Althing that governed the island from 930 AD to the 13th century, and was re-established in 1845 under the Danes, and continued after independence. The Althing is also one of the few pre-war legislatures to survive the Great War, and continues to govern the island as of 2300. Members of the Althing are elected every four years, and the head of the majority party serves as Prime Minister. A president is also elected, who is, at least in theory granted some powers, but the role is de-facto a mostly ceremonial one. Economy Pre-War Prior to the end of 1945, Iceland's economy consisted almost entirely of fishing, however after World War II, aid from the US and Europe allowed them to diversify their economy. From that period onward, the island was a mixed economy, in which most industries were operated as private businesses, but the government played some role in regulating or held stake in some important industries. By 2000, the country had become a leader in geothermal power, and had become known as a tax haven thanks to its low taxes, drawing many companies to the island, with industries including manufacturing, biotechnology, petrochemical and the high-tech industries being active on the island as for 2077. Post-War When the bombs fell on October 23rd, 2077, Iceland was not directly impacted, being far from mainland Europe or North America. After the bombings, the Althing approved a series of emergency measures, which, in addition to increasing police presence to deal with any civil unrest, also introduces a number of programs to restructure the economy to allow the island to survive in the post-war period. During this period, Iceland began to more resemble a command economy, with the government overseeing the refitting of factories which formerly produced consumer or export goods to produce necessities for the continued survival. For instance, many aluminum plants, which previously had been used to produce aluminum from bauxite- which were drawn to Iceland because of cheap geothermal power for the energy-intensive process- were refitted to melt down and recycle scrap aluminum. Similar plants were also set up for recycling steel, copper, and other metals, as well as plastics, and landfills were mined for recyclables. Rare materials such as oil, microfusion cells, and many rare food items and manufactured were rationed, with some becoming practically unavailable within the years. The government would also encourage university students to enter into fields such as engineering, chemistry, and medicine, which would prove most useful for survival of the nation. In 2078, after failing to make contact with any other pre-war nations, Iceland sent an envoy to the Svalbard Seed Bank and established a presence there, and brought back sample of food and medicinal plants, which were used to develop varieties of food crops which were better adapted to Iceland's cold climate (though much of the land remains unsuited for agriculture) or for being grown in greenhouses (which are used to grow many high-value medicinal plants in the post-war period). While there was a definite drop in standard of living after the Great War, thanks to the "Great Restructuring" as it was known, Iceland continues enjoy plentiful food and clean water, electricity, indoor plumbing, sanitation and other things that are rarities in much of the rest of the post-war world, and has a repository of post-war knowledge that rivals even the most advance post-war North American factions, such as the Brotherhood of Steel. By 2100, Iceland's economy and society had reset itself to a "new normal" and many economic restrictions of the "Great Restructuring" were lifted, returning to something more resembling a mixed economy. By this point, Icelandic sailors had begun trading with settlements in mainland Europe, trading manufactured goods for various post-war items. As new nation states such as the New Republic of Ireland arose, Iceland quickly established economic and diplomatic relations, and by 2300, became part of a trading network in the North Sea. As for 2300, Iceland retains most of the pre-war engineering and scientific knowledge, with a revived industrial sector, though the manufactured goods they can produce are limited by what materials are available from recycling of wastes, however, these shortages are alleviated by trade with states such as the New Republic of Ireland. Some areas, including carbon capture and recycling, or the capture of carbon from the air to be recycled into hydrocarbons usable for cars, as well as hydrogen fuels are actually slightly more advanced than the pre-war period, placing Iceland into Stage Four of the Industrial Revival. Military and Law Enforcement Iceland has no standing army or military, only a Coast Guard which is technically considered a law enforcement organization, which operates a few armed vessels, and larger numbers of unarmed small search and rescue vessels and aircraft. The Coast Guard also operated air-defense radars in support of US and other NATO fighter aircraft stationed at Keflavik. Law enforcement is performed by the National Police and local police forces, the Icelandic National Police including the Víkingasveitin, a paramilitary armed special forces unit. While they police were mostly armed only with batons and pepper spray prior to the war, armed police became more common in the post-war period, though they gradually became less common as civil unrest became less common by 2090. After the Great War of 2077, it soon became apparent to the military forces stationed at Keflavik that their home countries had effectively ceased to exist, and, seeing no other option, many of them had effectively joined the Icelandic Coast Guard or National Police, giving Iceland control of military hardware they never previously possessed, including seven F-80 jet fighters formerly belonging to the US Air Force at Keflavik, now part of the Coast Guard Air Service, acting as a "de-facto air force". The aircraft remain operation as of 2300, as do the supporting ground radars. The British nuclear submarine, the HMS Valiant, which docked in Reykjavik in December 2077, two months after launching their nuclear missiles at Chinese targets, after having failed to make contact with their own and any other countries' governments. The Valiant was later co-opted with into the Coast Guard, and it's remaining weapons, consisting of about 12 torpedoes and a few mid-range anti-ship missiles are still maintained, but have thus far never been used. Since its co-option, the sub has been mostly used as patrol craft. The only times the Icelandic Coast Guard has fired shots in anger have been a few instances in which pirates from the Faroe Islands, Orkneys, or areas formerly controlled by Norway have attempted to raid Icelandic ships or offshore oil platforms. In most cases, such vessels are discouraged by shots fired across the bow, however, in four occasions, the earliest in 2093 and the last in 2246, pirate vessels have ignored warnings and were sunk, three times by Coast Guard surface ships and once by a F-80 out of Keflavik. Equipment Small Arms Coast Guard Ships *3x Odin-class long-range patrol ships- pre-war patrol vessels, armed with 1x 40mm Bofors gun and 2x Browning M2 *20 Heimdall-class patrol boats: Postwar-manufactured 25 meter patrol craft, armed with a single machine guns (mostly MG3 or Browning M2, though some may carry M249s, Mark 19 grenade launchers, or other weapons captured from pirates). Use for close-to-shore patrols. *25 small patrol boats- various models, some armed with MG3 or Browning M2 *''ICGV (former HMS) Valiant'' - former Royal Navy ballistic missile submarine, fell into Icelandic hands after docking in Reykjavik in the Great War. ICBMs expended in the Great War, but torpedoes and anti-ship missiles remain intact but have never been fired in anger. Use by ICG to patrol waters around the island and covertly monitor suspicious vessels. Aircraft *2x helicopters *2x Cessna 1208 Atomic- modified as patrol aircraft *7x F-80 Meteor - inherited from NATO forces, armed with machine guns and rocket pods, with few dozen AIM-15 Copperhead air-to-air missiles and AGM-140 air-to-ground missiles in storage (neither has been used since acquiring them). *1x Boeing Stratoliner - former Icelandair airliner, modified for use as a long-range maritime patrol and photo reconnaissance aircraft. Foreign Relations New Republic of Ireland The New Irish Republic were among the first foreign powers to receive an embassy in Reykjavik, with the one being established in 2135, along with an Icelandic embassy in Dublin the same year. The Ireland has become post-war Iceland's largest trading partner, with Iceland primarily exporting fish, oil, and some manufactured goods, and Ireland exporting agricultural and some manufactured products to Iceland. Independent State of Ulster Scottish Republic With the independence of the Scottish Republic, Iceland established diplomatic relations with them, and like with the NIR, Ulster, and the Republic of Wales, quickly became major trading partners. Republic of Wales A few years Wales gained independence, in 2172, the Icelandic government formalized diplomatic relations with Wales. By 2200, the Republic was a major part of the North Sea trade network between Iceland, Britain, and Scandanavia. New Canada When the New Canadian government took control of Newfoundland in the 2090s, Iceland began to establish diplomatic relations with the Canadian successor state, and were major trade partners until the Canadian Civil War in the 2200s. Nyland Commonwealth The Republic of Iceland maintains friendly relations with the Nyland Commonwealth, and is a major trade partner, with Icelandic trade ships regularly traveling across the North Sea to trade with the Commonwealth. Iceland tends to trade manufactured goods to the Commonwealth, while the Commonwealth's primary exports is lumber from the vast boreal forests. Category:Pre-War Countries Category:Post-War Countries Category:Pre-War Factions Category:Post-War Factions Category:Locations